World Water Day 2023: Accelerating Change Through Collaboration

By Virginia Covo and Nicole Silk

Today is the 30th anniversary of World Water Day, and to underscore the urgency of the water crisis, the United Nations has marked the milestone with a special focus on accelerating change . The dire state of our global freshwater systems speaks to the need for swift action. Globally, monitored freshwater species populations have declined more than 80% since 1970. Just over one-third of the world’s 242 longest rivers remain free-flowing. And, more than 2 billion people on the planet live in water-stressed countries. The list goes on.

Our rivers, lakes and wetlands demand our attention. We must forge a new path that encourages a more expansive view of the challenges we face. This requires that we all lean in together and innovate.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation share an understanding that to tackle the water crisis, we need to act now. Our two organizations have been working together since 2019 and deeply appreciate the importance of collaboration to improve the stewardship of freshwater resources for the communities and ecosystems that depend on them.

World Water Day is a time to reflect on progress and reinvigorate our commitment to driving measurable solutions. Since water is one of the world’s most precious resources, Anheuser-Busch’s 2025 Sustainability Goals include ensuring 100% of our communities in high-stress areas will have measurably improved water availability and quality by that year. As part of this effort, 100% of Anheuser-Busch facilities across the U.S. will be engaged in water efficiency efforts – bringing the national impact home to local communities.

Today, the Anheuser-Busch Foundation is supporting TNC’s mission to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends by helping to advance the organization’s ambitious goals to conserve 1 million kilometers of rivers and 30 million hectares of wetlands by 2030.

Anheuser-Busch and TNC share a common interest in advancing watershed stewardship in the Western United States, where extreme weather events and drought have exacerbated the water crisis and made the issue a major regional priority. In places like Colorado and California, this work comes to life through collaboration with farmers, ranchers and utilities in Tribal Nations, municipalities, and urban neighborhoods. Importantly, these projects also help deliver on the UN’s goal to accelerate change by improving the quantity and quality of water available by stewarding natural ecosystems—like rivers and streams—that sustain both native species and local communities.

We’ve illustrated several key efforts below.

Fort Collins, CO

The Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers are primary water sources for Fort Collins, Colorado, in addition to being important habitats for native wildlife. Wildfires are among the biggest threats to the region, and, as drought seasons intensify, severity and frequency of Colorado wildfires are increasing. With an Anheuser-Busch brewery located in Fort Collins since 1988, the challenges the community faces hit close to home for the Anheuser-Busch Foundation.??

Beyond the devastation wildfires inflict on communities and ecosystems, wildfires can also impact water security. Sediment and ash from burned areas can easily erode into nearby rivers, streams and reservoirs, degrading water quality and potentially interrupting local water service.

To address this challenge, TNC is focused on implementing strategic forest management practices, including proactively cutting and thinning forests and using prescribed fire. TNC’s work in the Fort Collins area, supported by the Anheuser-Busch Foundation, scales up local forest restoration to help reduce the risk of high‐severity wildfire and protect community water supplies. This work is designed to increase the diversity of vegetation like grasses and herbs and benefit species that depend on healthy, open forest habitats including elk, small mammals, and songbirds.

The Anheuser-Busch Foundation support has helped TNC and partners improve forest health and reduce risk of catastrophic wildfire on 1,496 acres in the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers of Colorado’s Northern Front Range. TNC estimates that, each year, these conservation actions keep an estimated 20,910 acre-feet of water* at reduced risk from catastrophic wildfire, which could cause an estimated 9,447 metric tons of soil to erode into rivers and streams that provide drinking water for communities like Fort Collins.

*One acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons or enough water to cover an acre of land, about the size of a football field, one foot deep. (https://www.watereducation.org/general-information/whats-acre-foot)

Los Angeles, CA

The City of Los Angeles is famously situated in one of the most water-stressed regions of the country, making it vulnerable to a litany of water security and quality issues. To help, TNC is working with community stakeholders to harness nature to improve water quality in the L.A. River Watershed.

Single-purpose “gray” infrastructure, like pipes, can often be replaced with “green” infrastructure, like native vegetation, to capture rainfall and stormwater runoff. These nature-based solutions do more than manage stormwater and improve water quality before it enters the ocean—they can also provide natural areas for local communities to enjoy and create habitat for local wildlife and migrating birds.

Support from the Anheuser-Busch Foundation is helping TNC and partners launch a nature-based demonstration project the L.A. River Watershed. Anheuser-Busch has had a presence in Los Angeles since the founding of its brewery in 1954. To date, over 950 community members and decision makers have been engaged to help ensure the project will address community needs while advancing larger stormwater and water quality goals for the region.

Colorado River Basin, USA

The 1,450-mile Colorado River is essential to nature and communities in the Western United States. More than 40 million people depend on the Colorado River, including 30 Native American Tribal Nations, and the river irrigates nearly five million acres of land, growing 90 percent of the nation’s winter vegetables. Beyond providing food, water, and power to millions of people, the Colorado River offers critical habitat to animals, plants, and fish.

Like many other regions, the Colorado River Basin is facing an unprecedented crisis: it is in the midst of the driest period in 1,200 years and has faced 23 years of prolonged drought. The flow of the river has declined nearly 20 percent since 2000, with half of that decline attributed to increased temperatures.

The Anheuser-Busch Foundation is supporting TNC’s work on projects across the entirety of the Basin to restore streams, balance water use with supplies, and improve conservation of fish species that are threatened by the ongoing drought. These locally-driven projects allow TNC and its partners to test new approaches to managing water that increase flexibility, provide environmental benefits, and support communities at the same time.

TNC estimates that these projects have resulted in roughly 3,506 acre-feet of water returning to the river system to improve its health. The Anheuser-Busch Foundation has also supported TNC’s work with partners to improve river flows on roughly 2,204 miles of river in the basin, helping to restore natural seasonal variation that supports river health and habitat for native fish and other species.

This World Water Day, we need to harness the 30th anniversary theme of accelerating change to drive measurable solutions to the water crises and other pressing environmental challenges. The conservation outcomes made possible, in part, by water stewardship collaboration between the Anheuser-Busch Foundation and TNC are a great example of how private sector and non-profit organizations can work together to drive local and regional impact. On this World Water Day, we look forward to creating a more sustainable future through innovation and strong community partnerships that empower transformational change for people and our planet.

Virginia Covo is head of sustainability at Anheuser-Busch where she oversees the sustainability agenda for the company and leads execution of initiatives to help achieve A-B's 2025 sustainability goals

Nicole Silk is global director for freshwater outcomes at the Nature Conservancy where she is leading TNC’s work to conserve a?million kilometers of rivers and 30 million hectares of lakes and wetlands ?around the world by 2030.